


Space Boy

by Emejig16



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Fluff, Future AU, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Phan - Freeform, Phanfiction, alien!phil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-05 18:04:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4189680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emejig16/pseuds/Emejig16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The year is 2900 and Dan is fed up with his seemingly boring job but all that turns around with the arrival of an intelligent specimen that he was only meant to conduct research on. From the start of their first interaction Dan knew that this life form was something truly special–a gift from the universe itself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Space Boy

**Author's Note:**

> This is different from most of the things I have written but I promise you it’s good and I really really hope you guys like this! Thanks for 3k!! Just to put this into perspective, I’ve been writing this fic since April. Its 8.3k words
> 
> I have to say a HUGE thank you to maetaurus for betaing this 8.3k monster. You guys should shower her in love like honestly. I’d also like to give an additional thanks to dannihowell fricklefracklephan and galaxyphan for just helping my coherency out of my thoughts and just giving great input!
> 
> Like all of my other fics, this fic was originally posted on tumblr

_Astral-1 has gotten out. This is not a drill, Astral-1 has gotten out, and is in a 96% unstable condition. Put the whole facility on lockdown and do not shoot. Astral-1 is highly dangerous and volatile; approach with caution and be delicate before neutralizing_.  

For as long as Dan could remember, he’d always wanted to be a genetic engineer. There was nothing more that excited him than biology and the many processes related to the field. So he went to uni and didn’t stop schooling until he had a doctorate and a very prestigious government position in the field. 

He’d always dreamt of analyzing space debris and finding new life and being credited with amazing discoveries, but so far all he had done was look at rather disappointing space glitter. Things had been falling onto Earth for thousands of years and that was no different in the year 2900; he’d just kind of thought he’d get to do cooler stuff with it.

Since the start of the new millennium well over nine hundred years ago, science and space travel had always been advancing despite what was actually revealed to the public. By the time the year 2515 came around, safe and efficient space travel and the synthesizing of habitable environments in any area had been achieved. As a result humans were slowly dispersing throughout the universe. 

It was Dan’s job to examine all of the new organisms from the different corners of the universe and chart them, as well as complete all of the other documentation required. In the short three years Dan had been working for the Royal Applied Science and Government Research Facility, he had yet to do any of that. All he had actually done was look at a microscope slides for hours on end, documenting uninteresting things that could be found on Earth.

Dan was about to go through the motions once again as he was given the latest samples from the most recent meteorite strike about five miles from the facility. Honestly, his job couldn’t have been more of a joke when they’d given him what appeared to just be some dust from a chunk of rock that had fallen into Earth. In the midst of changing to a higher magnifying power there was a knock at his lab door before it slid open.

“Dr. Howell,” the head of all operations greeted coldly.

“Yes, good afternoon Director Hannock,” Dan replied. “How can I be of assistance but please try not to waste my time, as you can tell I’m extremely busy,” he added sarcastically.

“Funny Dan, but I’m here to discuss serious matters.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, in less than five minutes we will be escorting you to something we found along with the recent crash. Once you get it, it’s your responsibility from here on out. You must run all required tests and make sure it doesn’t get itself into any trouble while you analyze it and take down all necessary information. “

“Wait what? You mean a  _live_ specimen?” Dan questioned, not following.

“Yes, in that recent crash we found something else.”

“Okay…” Dan replied, waiting to see where the hell this was going.

“All I can tell you until you get it is that it’s currently going by the code name: Astral-1.”

“Fine. I’ll do whatever.”

“Knew we could count on you Howell,” Director Hannock said with a grin. He took a step out the door. “Howell is ready for escort to the first ten cells,“ he called down the hall.

“You mean we’re doing this right now?” Dan exclaimed in disbelief. He had no time to prepare or anything.

“Yep. Good luck Dr. Howell,”  Director Hannock said before walking out of Dan’s lab.

Less than a minute later four security guards were standing outside his door and then leading him through the labyrinth of the faculty where his "specimen” was waiting for him. 

Scientist Dr. Dan Howell’s footsteps resonated uneasily throughout the pristine white tiled hallway. What kind of assignment were they throwing him into if this thing needed to be contained within the first ten cells? The first ten cells housed the most dangerous organisms they’d picked up from space. Most of them were large plants but he didn’t feel like being poisoned to death–at least not today. 

“Dr. Howell, we will be entering the holding areas shortly,“ one of the security guards said.

“Alright,” Dan responded, still prepping himself for what he might see. "So uh, what cell number is this thing in again?”

“Cell seven.”

Dan nodded and let out a breath, “Did it really need to be in the first ten?”

“Sir, he needed to be restrained and contained. It threatened the safety of this entire facility.”

“And you’re putting it in my custody?“ he exclaimed with disbelief. 

With that the security guard nodded and led Dan through the network of hallways, elevators and a series of highly protected doors to the holding cells in the basement of the Royal Applied Science and Government Research Facility.

A higher amount of annoyance and urgency had never flown through Dan like this before but as he looked at would could only be described as his new assignment in a white shirt and shorts, with his hands chained, staring blankly at the wall, refusing to show his face, he couldn’t help but feel a little sad. This wasn’t the first specimen to come to Earth so why were they treating it like it was so foreign.  

As soon as Dan was granted access into the cell he slowly approached the trembling figure in the corner. Unsure of what kind of state he was in, Dan decided to go with the standard procedure: “Astral-1, this is Dr. Howell speaking.”

“Not my name,” a soft voice replied.

He looked at it from top to bottom from it’s short black messy hair, to pale feet. He was never going to forget how he looked at it with such disbelief and elation. This was what he’d been waiting for, the opportunity to interact with extraterrestrial life forms.

“I thought you said it was dangerous, and not human?” Dan asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the close proximity of the life form.

“He _is_  dangerous and he is _not_  human. Trust me,” one of the guards replied.

“Oh so  _he_  has pronouns. Let’s go easy on the _it_ then.”

“Be careful. He’s your responsibility now,” one of the other guards said as final advice.

"Can we unchain him?” Dan asked, still following the way Phil’s eyes traced over him. He cocked his head to the side when he watched as his eyes turned fuchsia. Dan placed the back of his palm on the his head, cheeks, neck and arms. Trying to see if maybe he was sick or something.

“Earth.” he said to Dan.

“Yes, this is Earth,” Dan replied uneasily. He panicked internally as he saw the–well he supposed it wouldn’t be inappropriate to refer to him as an alien–cock his head the side and eyes shift from fuchsia back to blue.

“Good luck,” the guard said, handing him the key to unlock the chains.

“Whatever, I’m sure I’ll be fine. He seems gentle,” Dan replied as he unchained him, giving a warm grin so that the alien would understand that he wasn’t going to hurt him.

He watched with caution as he rubbed his wrists and looked at Dan again. He leaned forward towards Dan, eyes shifting from blue to a deep purple this time. He then placed both of its hands on Dan’s cheeks and looked into his eyes with a gentle yet precise gaze. 

“Dr. Howell-”

“Don’t move,” Dan warned extending a hand as he heard the guards begin to shuffle.

Dan stayed like that, locked in a stare in dead silence, the guards keeping intense watch, with the alien for a good five minutes before he finally giggled. Dan would later learn that this was him extracting information and learning 

“Hi Dan,” the alien said.

“Astral, You know my name?” Dan replied in disbelief.

“No, but you know your name so now I know your name.”

“Oh? Where did you learn English?”

“The same way. Dan, Astral is not my name,” he said letting go of Dan’s face.

“What is your name then? 

"I have not figured it out in English yet,” he replied with confusion as he pondered over possible translation. 

 “Alright, we can figure that out in a bit. I need to examine you,“ Dan said, taking the alien’s hand helping him up so that he could walk him back to his lab. 

“What are you doing?”

"I’m taking you with me to my lab. Do me a favor and disregard everything you’ve heard  _those guys_  say about you but you do need further examination,” Dan declared.

“Why?” the alien asked as they left the cells.

"I’m obligated to. Don’t worry it’s nothing extreme.”

-

The specimen sat on lab table connected to many wires, staring at all of the jagged lines, various instruments and three computer screens that Dan was shuffling around between quickly writing things down whilst taking his vitals and examining him. 

“Dan?” Astral-1 asked softly when Dan was supposed to be taking his pulse.

“Mhmm,” Dan responded.

“Am I going to have to go away?” he saw Dan’s expression change to one of confusion. He listened to the soft sigh that flew from his chest hitting his.

“You know I’m trying to figure that out right now, but I highly doubt it,” Dan mumbled, putting on a stethoscope to listen to his heart (if he even had one). He then listened to his breathing and found his blood pressure. All of which came out normal for a human even though he was not.

“What do you mean?”

“Not if I can help it. We just need to work on controlling whatever it is those guys are afraid of I guess,” Dan explained carefully, taking note that Astral-1’s eye color was a standard light blue resting color.

“Oh?”

“They’re just afraid of you. I’m pretty sure you’re gentle though, unless you’re planning on killing me in the next five minutes or something,” he joked.

“Never!” Astral-1 exclaimed.

“I’m holding you to that,” Dan replied as he examined all of the results with growing annoyance that nothing surprisingly different had emerged.

Astral-1 placed his hand on Dan’s cheek and closed his eyes. When he reopened them they were a light grey, “You need to take a deep breath. Your energy is currently very unsettling.”

Dan chuckled, “I guess you’re right.”

-

Dan sighed in frustration as he logged all of his findings on his computer. He’d made a whole new case folder and made it his plan to fill up his log with as many findings as possible. Who knew? This could be the groundbreaking discovery he’d always dreamed of. As he typed in height, weight and all of that stuff it occured him that he’d failed to take a blood sample. He stopped typing and turned around to look at Astral-1 who was sitting quietly. 

“You’re thinking about something,” Astral-1 said quietly.

“Yeah, I need to do a blood test,” Dan said standing up. “Follow me,” he said walking through the glass doors to the other side of his lab. Astral-1 followed him closely, looking around at his surroundings. 

“What’s that?” he asked pointing to the needles in the cupboard.

“Take a seat there, and those are needles,” Dan commented as he set things up.

“Really? They’re so much smaller here,” Astral commented as he sat.

“I don’t even want to know,” Dan said. Once he’d finished getting everything ready, he stuck the needle into his arm and started his collection. Dan’s eyes widened as he saw a dark purple-blue, tinted with silver substance start to fill up the vile. “Holy hell,” Dan mumbled.

“What?” Astral-1 asked in confusion as Dan removed the needle and looked at the vile of blood. 

“This is what?” Dan said, incredibly confused.

“It’s blood. You said it yourself.”

“This is  _not_  blood.”

“ _Yes_ it is. It’s galaxy blood.”

“Galaxy?”

Astral-1 nodded with a smile. He then gasped, “Dan! Dan! My name I have found it!”

“Already?”

“I finally worked it out!”

“Let’s hear it.”

“My name translates to "Phil” apparently.”

 “Phil?” Dan replied.

 “Not my choice, but those are the letters, P-H-I-and…L.”

 -

The rest of Dan’s day quickly retreated back to normal. Aside from the fact that Astra– _Phil_ was pretty much following him around all day, asking hundreds of questions about what he was doing and about himself. Dan didn’t really get that because he could literally just take that information from his brain, but Astr– _Phil_ said he didn’t do that because it was intrusive to Earth-humans.

Quite Frankly, Dan wasn’t sure what more he was to do in the lab. It was obvious that Ast– _Phil_ was an intelligent life form that had definitely come from some sort of population out in space that evolved from a mutant form of the original human DNA template. Aside from the whole “galaxy blood” thing all of the organs, brain waves and well everything said human. Anatomically speaking, Dan’s investigation was done. The only issue was what to do with him. There was no place to hold him in his lab and he was not about to send him back to cell seven.

“Phil don’t touch that,” Dan reprimanded taking the scalpel out of his hand. He turned his attention back to his phone to call Director Hannock.

“What do you want Howell?” the hologram of Director Hannock asked with visible annoyance.

“Lovely to see you too. I was wondering, do I have permission to take Ph–Astral-1 out of my lab? Well, off of facility property all together actually?” Dan asked.

“You want to do  _what_?” Director Hannock said incredulously. “This is a possibly highly dangerous life form we’re talking about, and  _you_ want to take it off of a property where it can be monitored and restrained?”

“Okay, but here’s the thing. He’s not dangerous. He literally has no extra power of any sort to do anything with. Except the eye color shifting thing, but his eyes don’t even shoot lasers so it doesn’t matter.”

“Howell, you’re putting me in a tough position…”

“Please, I swear it will help further my investigation. I can’t get him to open up here, so maybe if he’s in a civilian setting and feels less threatened, I’d be able to collect better data,” Dan bullshited through his teeth.

The Director sighed. “I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this, but okay. Just remember,  it’s your responsibility. Whatever happens is on _you_. Make sure you get your work done,” Director Hannock said before signing off.

Dan sighed, before grinning to himself. He turned to Phil, “Put the scissors down, and stop going through the drawers.”

-

Dan unlocked the door to his apartment, sighing quietly as it slid open. He gestured for Phil to enter first as he turned on the lights.

“Hey Phil–” Dan started. He looked up only to see Phil walking slowly to the large glass sliding door that led out to a balcony in his lounge. Phil was just standing there, looking up at the sky and skyline of the city. 

“You have a good view,” Phil said with a smile. “Good sound too.”

“Thanks?” Dan replied, confused with the last part.

Phil giggled, “Really really good location.”

“Thanks. So do you–uh eat?”

“I am a living thing Dan. Of course I eat.”

“Didn’t realize you were sassy,” Dan mumbled. “Okay what do you eat then? Stardust or something?” 

“Oh yes us galaxy children only partake in the finest stardust and space debris. In fact we photosynthesize in the rays of the star closest to my home planet and eat comet ice.” 

Dan eyes narrowed, “Seriously?” 

“No Dan, we eat the same things you guys have here on Earth. They just glow due to the star clouds we live in.”

“So pizza is fine? It doesn’t glow here,” Dan teased.

“Perfect,” Phil said, walking back towards Dan.

“When did you get so sassy?” Dan commented.

“You’re sassy. It has something to do what I took from you.”

“I’m not sassy,” Dan mumbled as he grabbed himself and Phil some water from the fridge.

Phil stopped walking and looked up. He was shuffling through the information he’d deemed appropriate to keep on Dan before discarding the rest when he’d initially extracted it. “No, you’re pretty sassy or sarcastic I suppose.”

Dan tossed Phil a water bottle and motioned for him to sit down at the breakfast bar with him. “Okay Phil, talk to me. You’re lying or faking how much intelligence you actually have right? You know earlier when you were wandering around my lab and pretending not to know what things were–”

“I was gaining your trust, and making sure one hundred percent that you weren’t going to hurt me but you’re right. I know more than I made apparent,” Phil confirmed.

“Nice,” Dan said with a chuckle.

Phil giggled as he looked around Dan’s flat. Who would of thought he could hear _them_  this well from a flat in the city on Earth?

“What?” Dan questioned.

“Nothing, it’s just a bit humorous that’s all. I mean me as a "semi-intelligent life form”.”

“Okay don’t get too full of yourself mister.” Dan reprimanded with a chuckle.

After eating their dinner, and listening to Phil go on and on about how he’d always dreamt of eating “authentic Earth” pizza, Dan supposed it was probably time for him to go to bed. He did in fact still have work the next morning but he was going to leave Phil here. Maybe he could even have him set up his bedroom out of the spare room during the day. Honestly Dan didn’t care that they were going to have to share a bed tonight. It made no difference to him, except that maybe he couldn’t hog the duvet as much. 

As far as Dan was concerned the night went fine. Phil fell asleep rather quickly but he was having some difficulty, so he just laid there staring up at the ceiling, trying to plan his next areas of study. He’s not sure when he actually drifted off to sleep but when he woke up the next morning, he was dazed and unsure if he’d actually slept at all. It made no sense but it felt like he’d just dreamt his slumber and had spent the whole entire night feeling like he was drifting aimlessly through space at a constant freefall. It was strange but he could touch the stars and feel the universe’s cool embrace all around him. He rolled over and opened his eyes with a yelp.

“Phil what the hell are you doing?” Dan exclaimed. Phil had placed one hand on Dan’s forehead the other on the back of his neck.

“I woke up an hour ago and I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I wanted to see if you were and you were, so I decided to look…into…your……dreams…” Phil said, his voice trailing realizing how invasive that was. 

“You did what?”

“I’m sorry, I was curious!” 

“Oh my god,” Dan muttered, running his hand through his hair. “I’d much rather have you going through my drawers.” 

“About that–”

“Phil!”

“I’m sorry. But you can’t deny that your dreams are just as dirty as your browser history.”

“You went through my laptop?” Dan asked with disbelief. 

“Didn’t need to.” Phil said with a mischievous chuckle as he tapped the side of his head. 

-

When Dan went off to work he left Phil with instructions on how to set up his room out of the spare, and to refrain from leaving the flat. Phil stood there staring at the control panel and set of different codes to synthesize a room. He kept flipping through until his room had a decent sized window with a good view, and his bed against the wall where the window was. Phil smiled as he looked around his room adorned with galaxy carpet. He laid on his bed and looked at his ceiling, excited for how it was going to look at night.

He spent the majority of his day just wandering from room to room before laying on Dan’s couch, desperately trying to recall what he was meant to accomplish on Earth. Everything was clear when he left home and when he’d initially got here but as soon as he’d taken information from Dan he’d pretty much forgotten it all. In fact the only thing he could think of was the moon and the ocean. 

“Speak to me,” Phil mumbled to the air. Although it looked like he was just talking to no one it was more mental than that. He was switching his hearing frequency to the one that only  _they_ used to hear what they were saying to him. “You guys were so loud last night and now you won’t speak at all?” It was strange, back home he needed to make a small cloud in order to talk with  _them,_ but here all he had to do was focus his eyes and ears on a distinct star.  He could either literally see it at night or by envisioning it through his conscious to hear  _them_.

Phil wished Dan was there but Dan didn’t get back till very late, so he just had to keep himself busy until then. If Dan had been there, he would have commented on the constant grey color of Phil’s eyes, as he kept himself occupied around the flat. By the time Dan did get home Phil was no where to be found.

“Hey Phil I’m back,” Dan called as he removed his coat. He raised an eyebrow when he got no response. “Hey Phil?” Dan called again walking towards his room. He opened his own bedroom door, only to not find him. Then it occurred to him where he probably was.

“Yo Phil!” Dan said, knocking on the spare room door. The door slid open in an instant. “Oh wow,” Dan mumbled as he looked around Phil’s room. Honestly, it was the coolest thing ever. He marveled at the ceiling that projected the night sky above him, and the feeling of the galaxy floor that made him feel like he was walking among the cosmos. In the corner Phil sat by the window looking up at the new moon.

“Dan? Dan… you’re back,” Phil replied, a little detached.

“Hey, is everything alright?” Dan asked, going to sit by Phil.

“Yeah, Dan can you take me to see the ocean?” he asked softly.

“The ocean?”

“Yeah, I want to see the ocean some time.”

“Sure we can do that." 

Phil turned his head and smiled. Dan smiled back but took the mental note that for whatever reason, Phil’s eyes were fuchsia.

-

The next few weeks passed quickly. Dan was sort of busy with work but he still brought Phil along with him and let him adventure out to where he pleased. It was strange, although Dan was still keeping a record of all the things Phil did and didn’t do, what he liked and what he didn’t, and all of the little anecdotes he gave of back home, he just felt wrong keeping his file. The director was constantly asking about his research but it just felt odd. If anything, Phil had become more like a friend than an assignment to him. They went everywhere together, ate together, stayed up late together and hell they lived together. It just didn’t seem right to still be conducting this "experiment” anymore.

It was like secretly stalking your friend and using the gained information for your own amusement. Honestly, he didn’t think much about it at all. The only thing he was interested in was getting to know Phil as a person and not as a subject of discussion or discovery. Dan just wanted to know what made him who he was at his own pace.

“Phil?” Dan asked one night when they were lying under Phil’s bedroom sky, sort of talking and silently admiring the beauty of the stars.

“Yeah Dan?” Phil asked, turning to face Dan.

“Tell me about your home?” he finally asked.

“You want to know about my home?” Phil asked, sitting up.

“If you don’t mind. You don’t have to." 

"No, no I wouldn’t mind but it would be easier to show you than to tell.”

“What?”

“Trust me,” Phil said, sitting up. He sat on his heels and watched as Dan did the same, giving Phil a questioning glance. “Do you trust me?” Phil asked, eyes turning to a glowing fuchsia as he extended both of his hands.

“Of course I do,” Dan replied as he entwined his hands with his.

“Okay, I’m going to need you to close your eyes and stop thinking–no actually think of one of the constellations. Just pick one.” 

Dan did as Phil requested and closed his eyes. He immediately thought of pegasus, thinking of how nice it would be to take a ride on its pure white back through space, and the next thing he knew he actually was. Everything was zipping past and before he knew it they were landing on what could only be described as a pastel planet.

He could barely believe it when he was walking among the light green grass and looking at a sky that appeared to have come out of a powdery and sparkly blue watercolor tube. The cool winds of the planet tingled his skin and awoke everyone of his senses. Was this real? There was no way he was actually outside of Earth, but as he ran his hand along the smooth marble column of the building he was by, he deemed it real.

"Dan can you hear me?” Phil’s voice asked.

“Where am I Phil?” Dan asked, walking circles around himself.

“You are on Stellar-0271. In other words my home planet. Go into the building and it will explain everything.”

“How did I get here?” Dan asked as he walked up the great steps of this white–it was a grand  castle.

“Technically you’re not. I’m sharing an experience with you.”

Dan’s mouth opened, emitting a soft gasp as he walked into the castle. Phil had picked an experience when some sort of a banquet was going on. There were people of all different backgrounds around, and gorgeous spiraling lavender and coral plants lining the whole hall, all frozen within the memory. He kept walking down the center of the aisle until he got to the end. There a woman that looked a lot like Phil and a man stood holding a crown. Someone was kneeled in front of them awaiting to be crowned. Dan circled around them trying to get a look. The boy kneeling was  _Phil_?

But before he could say anything to Phil, within his next blink the memory cut out and Dan was snapped back to Earth with Phil, who was holding his head. A dark purple trail of blood had started down from his nose.

“Phil-Phil are you alright?” Dan asked with concern.

Phil chucked weakly, “That may have been overly ambitious of me.” He winced as he blinked trying to shift his eyes back to blue, but they were stuck at purple.

“Don’t move I’m going to get tissue,” Dan said, getting off the bed to run and go get some.

“Dan it’s–” Phil started before covering his eyes again with a groan. What the hell was happening to him. Why was that the only memory he was able to select to show Dan. 

Dan came running back with the tissues and handed them to Phil, “Here. I’m so sorry I didn’t mean–” 

“Thanks,” Phil said, cutting Dan off as he tilted his head forward and pinched the tissue to his nose to get the bleeding to stop. In the meantime Dan ran to get a glass of water, just in case Phil needed it. After about five minutes the bleeding had stopped and Phil was lying on his back trying to figure out what had happened.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Dan asked again.

Phil placed his fingers on both of his temples, rubbing them as the pain slowly subsided. “Yeah I’m fine. I don’t know what happened. That’s never happened when I’ve shared an experience before. Just barely halfway through, everything got super hot and my vision just kept blurring at the edges before blacking out completely, which is why it ended the way it did,” Phil explained.

“Interesting,” Dan commented, unsure of what to think.

“Maybe, but did you see it?” he asked anxiously, unsure if that had actually worked at all or if he’d just strained himself for nothing.

“Yeah and the glimpse was gorgeous,” Dan mused, remembering everything he’d seen.

Phil smiled weakly, “I wish I could show you more. It does more justice than just telling." 

“It’s okay,” Dan said, rubbing Phil’s leg. “You’ve showed me more than I could have ever dreamed of, having never been there. That place was gorgeous–ethereal even. The hues were so delicate, and the debonair light pink fluffy clouds? Oh and the stars in the backdrop of the sky,” Dan rambled, unaware he’d seen that much. He smiled as he watched Phil grin listening to his words before closing his eyes and shifting uncomfortably. 

“It’s a nice planet right?”

“It’s amazing. It’s twice as better as Earth.”

“Don’t say that. Earth is beautiful in it’s own way,” Phil said with a sigh. 

 ‘That reminds me, a-are you a space prince Phil?” Dan asked, recalling the last thing he’d seen before the memory cut out.

“You could say that,” Phil replied vaguely.

“What’s it like?”

“It’s a lot of work yet at the same time no work at all. Since my parents are still technically ruling,  I don’t do much but do studies on government, look prim and proper for events, and get schmoozed up by everyone trying to marry into the royal family. I don’t think it will be too bad when I have to rule,” Phil explained. 

“When will that be?”

Phil shrugged, “I’m not too sure but I know it’s coming up soon.”

“Well, you should get some rest,” Dan said as he stood up.

“Yeah, you should too.”

“I’ll be next door if you need anything.”

“Thank you Dan.”

 -

The next several weeks following the failed shared experience were, well for lack of a better word, weird. Almost every week, and for sure on new moons and full moons, Dan and Phil kept interfering with the other’s dreams. It was as if they’d been linked through the cosmos. Dan found himself staying up late at night unsure of why. He could be tired beyond tired yet he’d just lie there. Incidentally enough, on those nights Phil was busy conversing with “his friends”.

Phil had taken note of new emotions within himself and new dreams. He’d always experienced a range of emotions and dreams but these ones burned his heart and made his eyes fuzzy. It frustrated him to no extent that he couldn’t place a name on what it was. It made his mouth go dry and his body hot and cold all at once. He swore he was feeling a million things in one feeling, and that was new for him.

It was during one of these odd nights, in fact a night before a full moon that Dan pulled himself out of his sleepless room to see if Phil was awake, which he was for a completely different reason.

“Phil? Phil what are you doing?” Dan asked, noticing a purple glow from his room. He opened the door to find Phil sitting cross legged on his bed, holding what looked like a mini galaxy: teals, purples and oranges spun above the palm of his hand, glowing brightly before stopping altogether when Phil realized Dan was staring at him.

“Will you take me outside at night?” Phil questioned, still examining his own hands and fingers.

“How long have you been able to do that?”

Phil shrugged, “Always could.”

“Where did you learn how to do that?”

“ _They_  told me how.” 

“ _They_?”

“Yes,” Phil said with a satisfactory nod. “ _They’ve_ been talking to me this whole time and I have been hearing them faintly but they’re so loud in your flat!”

“You know, you’ve never told me who  _they_  are?” Dan said, leaning in the doorframe.

Phil laughed, “You mean you don’t know  _them_?  _They’re_  always talking to you Dan. I think  _they_ look out for you. I thought I could only hear them in my dreams but apparently not.” 

“Oh.”

“If we can go to the balcony I can tell you who they are,” Phil proposed. Dan conceded and followed Phil from his room, through the lounge and out onto the balcony of the flat. He watched as Phil walked up to the railing and placed his hands on it as he looked up.

“Take my hand Dan,” Phil said as he extended it. Dan did as Phil said and stood beside him. “Now look up,” he whispered. Dan looked up and all of a sudden the sky was littered in millions of little white paint dots, all shimmering yet distinct in their shape and size.

“Is that them?” Dan asked in complete awe. 

Phil nodded, “The stars.” 

-

The first thing Dan did after that night was back Phil’s file up onto his personal computer and delete every single last piece of info on Phil in the facility. If Director Hannock even knew a fraction of what Dan had learned over the last five and a half months, he’d never see Phil again and he would be exploited. Quite frankly, so much had changed between he and Phil, and Dan wasn’t about to let any ruin that for him. 

“Dan!” Director Hannock yelled one morning when he’d come into the lab.

“Indoor voices,” Dan reprimanded as he did some computer work. 

 “Do you happen to have anything on that specimen we gave you five months ago?” he asked uneasily.

“Some stuff…” Dan lied. “Why?”

“Delete it all.” he ordered. “The Americans are suspicious and they want something. If they find out we handed off an intelligent life form over into employee custody–just remember we gave you full responsibility to conduct your research.”

“Yes sir,” Dan said with a grin.  _The stars sure were looking out for him._ Director Hannock was acting out of character which suggested manipulation of sorts but Dan didn’t care. It was for that reason that he wasn’t surprised when Phil was able to waltz right into his lab.

“What did you do?” Dan asked with a chuckle as he turned around from his work.

“I asked a friend for a favor,” he replied with a mischievous giggle.

“Anyways, you need something?” 

“No, I was lonely at the flat and was wondering when we would be going to the ocean? The next full moon is coming and I’d like to go then.” 

“Oh yeah! I totally forgot that was something you wanted to do,” Dan said as he sat on the table next to Phil. “We can definitely do that,” he added, nudging Phil with his shoulder. 

Phil blushed, something he’d been doing more as of late. In fact, that feeling that was stirring up trouble in his chest and body was constant never ending tingle all over, especially in his fingertips. There was a comforting warmth to it all and it often made him smile. He just wished he knew what it was.  _Maybe he could get it out of Dan._

“Hey Dan?” Phil asked. “Do you think I could do that thing I did the first time we met again?”

Dan shrugged, “I don’t see why not.” 

“Okay face me,” Phil directed. He placed his hands on Dan’s cheeks and looked into his eyes. He tried to shift his own eyes to purple but they wouldn’t budge, nor would the opening into Dan’s mind. All he ended up doing was getting lost in the rich velvety brown of Dan’s eyes, taking note of their every hue and sparkle. Phil let go of Dan’s face with a sigh.“That was odd.” he finally said. 

“Why? What did you get this time?” Dan asked with concern, thinking of all the stuff that could be floating around his head.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

“It’s probably all of those pancakes you eat. Probably fried your systems or something,” Dan teased.

“Stop, you know they are delicious,” Phil replied, turning pink again.

The two of them laughed for a while before falling into a comfortable silence. It was the loudest minute or so Phil had ever sat through as _they_ were yelling at him about something he couldn’t quite make out. 

-

That day wasn’t the first day Phil’s powers didn’t work on Dan. As of late, he could no longer access any of the information he had stored on Dan, he could no longer see into his dreams, and it was near impossible for him to switch eye colors. In fact, the only thing Phil could still do was hear the stars and they weren’t much help. They were almost beginning to taunt and tease him about something they knew and he didn’t.

And that was annoying.

What was worse was that feeling in him was getting stronger and next to unbearable when he was around Dan. He just couldn’t stop smiling and giggling around him. Also, Dan had started to take notice and kept pestering him about it and calling him cute and stuff.

So many odd nights had amounted as a result of this. He just couldn’t stop thinking and rethinking everything. He wanted answers and he couldn’t find them on his own. No matter how long he looked at the stars through the clouds, desperately trying to find comfort in the sky he’d been placed under, something was still being relayed to him. Maybe it was a message from home but he was positive it wasn’t that. It was a personal light blue and pink swirling cloud that he was supposed to decipher for himself. Every night he tried to pick it apart but there were just so many parts that didn’t match up; too many vague scenes he couldn’t make out yet all related to Dan’s voice.

The two of them were lying on his bed again when Phil reached the height of his crisis.

“Do you want to go on a walk with me?” Phil asked suddenly in the middle of the story Dan was telling.

“Oh, I mean sure?” Dan agreed sitting up.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt your story,” Phil apologized, turning a little pink. 

 “It’s alright. It’s unimportant anyways,” he said with a light chuckle.

“No don’t say that. Everything you have to say is important to me.” 

“Oh, thanks,” Dan said with a chuckle. “Let’s get going.” 

Once outside in the cool night air Phil felt more relaxed and able to speak. He wasn’t sure how to articulate his thoughts to Dan, but he’d done a lot of thinking and Dan could have the answer to all of the brick walls his train of thought has been hitting. 

“Beautiful night right?” Dan breathed, wrapping his arm around Phil’s shoulder.

Phil smiled and giggled, “Really nice. It’s impossible for it not to be, we’re merely weeks away from the next full moon." 

They walked in silence for a few moments before Dan broke it, "What’s on your mind? I’m the only one that takes walks at night when I can’t shut my brain up.” 

Phil sighed, "I feel weird these days.”

“How so?” Dan asked, rubbing his shoulder, urging him to continue.

“You know the feeling where it’s like all over your body is warm and you can’t think or see straight and your breath keeps getting caught in your throat. But it only happens when one person and this one person just always makes you smile and feel all giddy inside? Yeah that feeling,” Phil rambled, unsure if any of that had made sense.

“Sounds like someone has a crush,” Dan teased.

“A crush?”

“What you guys don’t have those on Stellar-0271?”

“I don’t think we call it a crush?”

“I mean you’re feeling attraction.”

“Attraction?” Phil repeated, mulling it over in his mind.

“You know,  _attraction_ …” Dan repeated as if that made anything any clearer. “I don’t know maybe you have thoughts of I don’t know–maybe you want to hold their hand or kiss them?” Dan tried to explain.

“Is that what I want to do to you?” Phil blurted out before covering his mouth with his hands. He didn’t even need light to know that he was incredibly red. 

“Do you have a crush on me space boy?” Dan teased.

“That’s space  _prince_  to you, but that would make sense. I can’t use any of my powers on you anymore. All signals get blocked and the only thing I can think of is your dumb dimple and your eyes. I think there’s something in your eyes meant for me." 

Now it was Dan’s turn to blush, "I don’t know what to say.”

“Nor do I. I don’t know, this is all new yet oddly familiar in away. Like I’ve done this already or I’ve seen it before. Maybe in a dream I don’t know I’m making this very weird for the both of us and–" 

The soft press of Dan’s lips on the side of his cheek stopped all train of thought and there was a flash of something. 

 "It’s okay, you don’t have to know. Some things just can’t be explained by the universe." 

"Yeah but I think this is its doing,” he murmured.

“Let’s go back to the flat. It past one in the morning.”

When they got back to the flat, Phil supposed he’d had his thought answered but there was a crucial piece missing. Sure, he’d gotten the answer to what he was feeling; it was in fact attraction like he’d suspected. He supposed he just didn’t see it hitting him like this. Of course he knew what attraction was, he’d just never felt it before. But there was something else he was supposed to be realizing–he knew that for sure. There was something else because the stars were straight up laughing at him now; they were pretty much in hysterics.

“Is that all there is to it?” Phil asked quietly.

 "Hmm?“ Dan questioned. 

"Nothing–sorry just thinking out loud." 

"Listen Phil don’t think about it too much. Whatever happens from here happens. There’s time to figure it out for sure.” Dan took Phil’s hand and felt him tense up and go rigid. He looked up with concern only to see Phil staring out into nothing, mouth agape and eyes unreadable. Then, like a fuse blowing out, the slight yellow tint in the center of his iris flashed, glowing a vibrant golden hue before dispersing out as sparks across his eyes.

“Phil?” Dan asked softly. Phil turned his head and looked at him but didn’t say a thing. He let go of Dan’s hand and retreated swiftly to his room without as so much as a sound, aside from a quiet gasp. 

In the privacy of his room Phil laid down on his bed and stared up at his ceiling. He _had_ missed something and it had literally flashed as a memory–though he was positive the event had not happened yet–across his eyes. Phil knew he could recall the flash and look at it slowly but with Dan blocking his powers, passing out from the strain was pretty much a given. 

But still, it was worth a shot. Phil closed his eyes and tried extremely hard to locate what he’d seen and slow it down. He’d seen it: he and someone else he couldn’t make out were in a garden–yes but no. It was the main garden of the Marble Castle in which he lived? The peach star lily bushes were in full bloom and pristine white chairs were set out in rows. It looked like a party, no a  _wedding?_ He was looking at a wedding. He blinked again and then he realized all of the chairs were filled with faces he couldn’t quite make out looking at him.

This was his wedding– wait he’d seen his own wedding? But why? Phil asked himself as he moved down further down the aisle before getting to the end, taking his place next to whoever the hell he was supposed to be getting married to. Even though he knew he’d seriously be risking his chance of blacking out, purely out of curiosity he turned his head to confirm who he thought was next to him, and sat up in his bed with a gasp.

Although he hadn’t passed out, he’d given himself another nosebleed as the rich purple substance was spewing out from his nose. He could feel his hands shaking and the back of his head was pounding. Sure he felt like death but it was worth it because he’d figured out what he’d missed and why he’d come to Earth in the first place. He tried to stand but lost his balance as the entire room spun.

So maybe he  _was_ going to blackout after all.

- 

“Phil? Phil, you up?” Dan asked, knocking on his door. It was already past eleven in the morning and he hadn’t heard from him since he went to his room last night. Phil was typically up early so this was troubling for Dan. He leant against the door. “Listen if this is about last night I really don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me. I mean it does but not in like a bad away or anything. I guess I’m sorry for fucking up your powers or something. I just hope you’re alright.”

Dan sighed as he turned away from Phil’s door to walk back to the kitchen to make breakfast. He was barely a foot from Phil’s door when he heard it slide open. Dan’s eyes widened as he looked at the dried blood on Phil’s face.

“I blacked out last night,” Phil stated before Dan could even ask. 

“What? Phil why didn’t you–” Dan started before realizing he wouldn’t have been able to call for help. “What the hell did you do?” Dan added, his mind wanting to ask a thousand questions all at once.

“Something I probably shouldn’t have but it was worth it,” he said with a smile. 

 “Are you going to be fine? Should I not leave you alone at night? Phil what if you had hit your head and gone comatose?” 

“You would have to have hit me with a jet to do that,” Phil joked. “But, I’m going to be good. I’m going to be really good,” Phil stated, still looking over Dan.

“But the whole safety night thing?”

“I don’t mind your company,” Phil said with a chuckle.

Dan shook his head, “Just get yourself cleaned up. I can’t with you sometimes. Also, the full moon is in four days. I was thinking we would head out to the coast later this week to see it.”

“That would be nice.”

-

And so a few days later, Dan and Phil made their way to the beaches down south. It was a quiet high speed ride there but Phil couldn’t be happier. He couldn’t wait to see it for himself and feel it with his own senses. He had beaches on his home planet but this was going to be different.

As Phil requested, they went late in the afternoon when most of the people were beginning to leave the beach, and when the sunset and night wouldn’t be too far way. It felt nice to dip his feet into the cool squishy sand. He smiled as he walked hand in hand with Dan, hardly believing that he would have successfully gotten all of this and more out of his trip.

When the sun had set, Dan and Phil sat on the shores quietly watching the waves. They’d talked for a little while but Dan could see and feel that Phil wanted to take it all in quietly. The rich deep blue sky sat against the white foam of the waves. 

“Sorry I couldn’t take you to the ocean,” Dan mumbled 

“This may be a channel but this is still the Atlantic Ocean Dan,” Phil replied quietly, causing Dan to roll his eyes.

“Phil, why did you want me to take you to the ocean so bad?” Dan asked quietly.

“Because as I approached Earth, the moon–she talked to me. She told me of this vast body that she controlled on Earth, making it rise and recede bringing some of Earth’s most ancient parts into view. I had no idea what she meant, but I was determined to figure it out if I had the chance to,” Phil explained in a hushed tone as he ran his fingers through the moist sand, squishing it and rolling it around.

“Oh,” Dan said softly.

“Las olas…” Phil murmured.

“You know Spanish?” Dan questioned, causing Phil to shrug. Another silence fell between them. “You know you have the ocean in your eyes.”

Phil giggled and rested his head on Dan’s shoulder, gaze still transfixed on the fleeting crests, “And you have the stars in yours.”

Dan wrapped his arm around Phil’s shoulder and pulled him closer to him. He kissed Phil’s forehead and just knew that they’d been linked by the stars and not by chance. He had a feeling that Phil wasn’t going to be going anywhere from his life any time soon, and that he was probably going to be seeing the world outside of Earth pretty soon.


End file.
